Four anti-corruption organizations denounce the Ministry of Solidarity's insistence on excluding them

Organizations: The Ministry's behavior is an expression of its negative view of organizations serious in combating corruption from a human rights perspective

Partners for Transparency organizations, the Arab Program for Human Rights Activists, express Egyptians Without Borders And the Foundation for Studies And integrity programs And transparency Human Rights expressed its deep astonishment at the incomprehensible and unjustified behavior of the Ministry of Social Solidarity and its insistence on excluding the “four” organizations - which are the Egyptian civil entities most concerned with the issue of combating corruption - from participating in forums and meetings organized by the Ministry to discuss the role of civil society organizations in combating corruption .

The Ministry of Social Solidarity, the General Union of Non-Governmental Associations and Institutions and the Egyptian Society for Cooperative Studies had participated in organizing a forum on Monday, July 31, 2017 under the title “The Role of Civil Society in Fighting Corruption.” The Ministry also called two months earlier, two months ago, for a meeting with NGOs concerned with combating corruption. Corruption is to receive proposals that can be funded through the Associations Support Fund without inviting any of the four organizations.

It is worth noting that the four organizations that signed the statement are almost the only organizations in Egypt that dealt with the issue of combating corruption institutionally as a major concern for years, and each of them has implemented a large number of projects and programs related to combating corruption and promoting integrity, transparency and accountability practices in cooperation with a number of institutions and partners International and local development, as well as the organizations submitted dozens of theses, recommendations, proposals for legislation and systematic reports in order to reform the legislative and institutional environment, as well as their participation in dozens of national, regional and international forums on the same issue.

The efforts of the four organizations were and are still of interest, appreciation and wide participation of parliamentary parties, experts, government officials and those concerned with the issue of combating corruption, as well as of great interest from various media outlets, which are well-known and documented efforts and roles of the Ministry of Social Solidarity as the ministry responsible for implementing the law governing the work of NGOs. .

The Organizations Partners for Transparency, the Arab Program for Human Rights Activists, are Egyptians Without Borders And the Foundation for Studies And integrity programs And transparency Human Rights affirms that the behavior of the Ministry of Social Solidarity expresses its “negative view” of organizations operating in the field of combating corruption from a defensive perspective based on advocacy for reforming public policies, developing legislation and creating an institutional environment, which clearly indicates the lack of seriousness of the ministry in dealing with the issue in a manner It deserves the attention it deserves, and this is what we infer from the Ministry officials ’insistence on excluding serious expertise that has an integrated vision emanating from a comprehensive awareness of anti-corruption requirements and an accurate reading of the relevant international and constitutional obligations.

Civil work in Egypt is based on a sectoral division through which organizations are active in specific areas of work, each of which has its importance in comprehensive community development, and given the importance of all sectors of civil work, the logic requires setting objective criteria on the basis of which specific organizations are invited to participate in various forums according to The main area of concern for each organization, and on this basis the invitation of the Ministry of Solidarity to organizations not operating in the anti-corruption sector to gatherings related to this issue is a kind of tampering and shuffling of papers and giving priority to non-professional standards and attention to form at the expense of content and results.

The four signatory organizations do not intend, behind their statement, to enter into a quarrel with the Ministry of Solidarity - despite the fact that many of the Ministry’s practices are rooted in this - but they want to register a position that rejects the “standardization” of civil work, and tries to draw attention to the danger of continuing the policy of “dropping” the defensive human rights aspects. From the accounts of the executive authorities in dealing with reform issues in general, and the issue of combating corruption in particular, and they warn against insisting on following the approach of trustworthy people at the expense of experts, and giving preference to political and security classifications.

                                                           The Signatories

• Partners for Transparency Foundation
• The Arab Program for Human Rights Activists Association
• Egyptians Without Borders Foundation
• Studies FoundationAnd integrity programs And transparency For human rights